False Advertising

You've heard the hype before: "Eat all you want and still lose weight!" It's the Holy Grail of diets and just about as obtainable, according to the Federal Trade Commission. But the peddler of a new pill -- Akavar 20/50 -- is advertising just that on late-night TV, in print and online. And the company says it has scientific proof to back up the claim. It had better, if the diet company doesn't want to eat its claims.

Two Southern California Toyota dealerships agreed Thursday to pay a total of $2 million to settle a civil suit accusing them of false advertising and unfair sales practices. The civil charges were brought against South Bay Toyota of Gardena, South Coast Toyota of Costa Mesa and the former president of the two dealerships, Shigeyasu "Steve" Hiraiwa, by the California attorney general's office and the district attorneys of Los Angeles and Orange counties.

The next battle in the Splenda wars is about to begin. A hearing in a false-advertising lawsuit against the company that makes the sweetener is scheduled for Monday in federal court in Los Angeles. Filed by five U.S. sugar companies, the suit claims McNeil Nutritionals has deliberately misled consumers with its "made from sugar, tastes like sugar" advertising campaign. "We believe it is manipulation on an important subject," said Dan Callister, a lawyer for the Sugar Assn. Inc.

Designer Carroll Shelby's year-long claim has been intriguing: He would finish what he started in 1965 and build the last of his elite Cobra sports cars on cobwebbed frames and parts he had hoarded for 27 years. In recent months, his company has assembled nine of the treasured two-seaters--Cobra 427s descended from race cars that beat Ferrari for the 1964 world manufacturer's championship. At least four have been sold--asking price: $500,000--as zero-mile, newly completed originals.

One of Southern California's largest auto dealerships conspired to defraud consumers, first with false advertising delivered by late-night pitchman Ralph Williams and then with sales representatives trained in deceit, a state investigator contends in court documents filed Friday. The documents, examined by Orange County Superior Court Judge John J.

If an auto repair shop says it charges $70 an hour for labor, and the job takes one hour, how much is the labor bill? David Verdiner thought the answer should be $70 when he had his car fixed at a Pep Boys -- Manny, Moe & Jack Inc. garage in Los Angeles two years ago. The store had signs stating that its hourly labor rate was $70. But instead, Verdiner claims, he was billed $112 for the labor, even though the job took only 40 minutes. Verdiner paid his bill.

A bitter legal battle being waged in a New Orleans courtroom could force some of the nation's best-known companies to tone down some of the claims made in popular advertising jingles and slogans. The food fight focuses on Pizza Hut's claim that the "Better ingredients. Better pizza" slogan of the rival Papa John's chain crosses over into false advertising.